Label dispenser



Nov. 10, 1959 COLE 2,912,140

LABEL DISPENSER Filed March 7, 1957 w; MI I 1 W m 1 United States PatentLABEL DISPENSER Gerald E. Cole, Highland Park, Ill., assignor to Kleen-Stik Products, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of IllinoisApplication March 7, 1957, Serial No. 644,653

Claims. (Cl. 2211-70) This invention relates to an improved manualdispenser for labels of the type attached to a backing strip by apressure-sensitive adhesive which enables the labels to be peeled offthe strip.

Many different types of label dispensers have been heretofore designedto dispense these labels from the strip. These usually included astripping or peeling edge around which the backing strip is bent, withthe labels being on the upper or outer surface of the strip. In suchcase, and particularly if the backing strip is more flexible than thelabels, the forward end of the front label separates from the strip atthe point that the backing strip sharply bends around the strippingedge. Usually, a label separating means is provided immediately in frontof the stripping edge upon which the portion of the label justseparating from the strip can bear to aid in the peeling of the rest ofthe label from the backing strip. Additionally, there is sometimesprovided adjacent to the stripping edge a guide or pressure means at orimmediately behind the stripping edge for keeping the backing stripclose to the stripping edge.

Some of these dispensers are made for mechanical feeding of the striparound thestripping edge by manualoperated levers or motor means andothers are made for hand .fecdingof the strip by grasping the front endof the. backing strip and pulling the strip around the stripping edge.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved labeldispenser of the hand-feeding type having the above-mentioned featuresfound in label dispensers generally, which improved dispenser is of muchsimpler and hence of less expensive construction than dispensers of asimilar type heretofore available.

Another object of the invention is to provide a label dispenser of thehand-feeding type which is much simpler to load and to use than priordevices of a similar type so that practically any person can load andoperate it without difiiculty.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a singledispenser features resulting in both simplicity of construction andsimplicity in loading and operating the same.

2,912,140 Patented Nov. 10, 1959 ice ing, horizontal stripping edge andcontiguous sharply angled, strip-holding guide surfaces along which thebacking strip of the label roll may be extended. Said uppermostrearwardly inclined wall portion merges with a forwardly extending wallportion.

The backing strip of the label roll is constrained to follow the contourof said stripping edge by a pair of widely spaced apart, generallycylindrical horizontal guide bars extending between extensions of saidhousing side walls projecting beyond said guide surfaces.

is spaced a small distance above said top wall at or more preferablyslightly behind said stripping edge, the space therebetween being enoughto provide clearance for relatively free passage of the label stripthereunder while holding the strip close to the stripping edge. Theother guide bar, to be sometimes referred to as a strip-reversing bar,is located appreciably behind and below said guide bar and preferablyspaced a small distance from the crotch of the concavity formed at thejuncture of said upper, rearwardly extending front wall portion and saidforwardly extending front wall portion. The two guide bars normally holdthe front section of'the backing strip unwound from the label roll in asomewhat taut condition while following generally the contour of saidvarious above-mentioned guide walls or surfaces beneath and behind saidguide bars. Consequently, the user,

by pulling only slightly on the very end of the backing strip in anydirection, causes the backing strip to tightly hug and -move around saidstripping edge to readily peel olf the front label then located just ator behind the stripping edge. The housing has a third, preferablycylindrical bar, to be sometimes referred to as a label separator bar,located slightly in front and at about the same elevation as saidstripping edge, which supports the portion of the label peeling awayfrom the backing strip at the stripping edge. This bar, as in. the caseof the guide bars, is supported between extensions of the side walls.The housing further has a bottom wall which joins the bottom of thehousing front wall and a hingedly mounted, rear wall whichprovides alarge opening In accordance with the most preferred form of the in- 1 Ivention, the dispenser comprises a housing for holding a roll of saidlabel strip and having externally ribbed vertical side walls spaced toprovide a narrow housing body to fit easily in the crotch of the usershand. The ribbing minimizes slippage between the fingers of the handgrasping the dispenser when the front end of the backing strip is pulledby the other hand to unwind a section of the label strip in alabel-dispensing operation. The housing has a generally horizontalstrip-supporting top wall extending between the upper extremities of theside walls, and, at the front; end the top wall, joins a front wall ofthe housing which in the upper portion thereof has a sharply rearwardly,downwardly inclined guide wall portion which extends at an acute anglewith the housing top wall to form a generally forwardly fac parts.

provide a slot or opening for passage of the label strip end unwoundfrom the label roll. The label strip passes under said top guide bararound said stripping edge and behind said strip-reversing bar beneathand behind said stripping edge at the front wall of the housing.

The above-mentioned one piece dispenser construction, except for thehinged rear wall, need have no moving parts and can be made entirelyfrom molded plastic Moreover, the arrangement of the various bars andwall surfaces is-such that any person can load and string the labelstrip properly through the readily visible exterior portions thereof.Furthermore, only a slight pull in any direction of the end of thebacking strip of the label roll will dispense a label by the peelingaction above-mentioned.

'Qther objects, advantages and features of the invention will becomeapparent upon making reference to the specification to follow andthe'drawings wherein:

- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of "a label dispenser constructed inaccordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view through the label dispenser in Fig. 1, taken alongsection line 2-2 therein; 7

Fig, 3 is a sectional view One of these bars, to he sometimes referredto as a top guide bar,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the dispenser taken alongsection line 4-4 in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken along sectionline 5-5in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the preferred form of the inventionillustrated comprises a housing, generally indicated by the referencenumeral 1, containing a roll of labels including a suitable backingstripv 3 upon which labels 4, carrying a backing of a pressure-sensitiveadhesive, are secured by their own adhesive backing. The backing stripand labels may be made in any Well-known manner and per se form no partof the present invention.

The housing 1 is preferably entirely made from molded plastic parts andincludes side walls 5-5 having concentric circular ribbing 6 extendingfrom the exterior surfaces thereof, and top, front and bottom walls 7, 8and 9, respectively, secured to the side walls by lateral pins 7', 8 and9 extending from the walls 7, 8 and 9 and fitting into correspondingholes in the side walls to form an integral housing unit. The variouspins may be cemented, fused or otherwise fixed to the defining walls ofthe corresponding openings in the housing side walls. As illustrated inthe drawings, the top, front and bottom walls are made as an integralmolded unit.

The top housing wall 7 at its front end merges with a sharplyrearwardly, downwardly inclined upper front wall portion 10 to form ahorizontally disposed, forwardly facing stripping edge 12 which isrounded preferably to a radius of about 0.010" to preventtearing of thebacking strip. The top wall 7 and the upper front wall portion 10 makean acute angle, preferably less than 45 degrees. This uppermost wallportion merges with a reversely or forwardly extending wall portion 14at a point spaced appreciably below and to the rear of the strippingedge 12. The housing side walls 5-5 extend appreciably beyond the topwall and the front wall portions 10 and 14 to form support extensionsfor a number of horizontal cylindrical bars, namely bars 16, 18 and 20.

The front edges ofthe side walls 5-5 lie preferably in a plane whichinclines rearwardly in a downward direction and the upper extremities ofthe front edges of the side walls merge with rounded projecting portions21-21 which merge with the lower horizontal upper edges of the sidewalls 5-5. A bottom front wall portion 24 extending from the forward endof front wall portion 24 extends flush with the downwardly andrearwardly inclined front edges of the side walls 5-5. The bottomhousing wall 9 is parallel to the top wall 7 and extends from the bottomof the inclined front wall portion 24.

Extending between the side wall front projecting portions 21-21 atpoints slightly above the top wall 7 and to the rear of the strippingedge 12 is the bar 16, to be referred to as a top guide bar. The bar isheld in place between the side walls by lateral pins 1 6'-16' cementedor fused to the defining walls of complementary holes in the side walls.The spacing between this bar and the top wall 7 is such that the labelstrip will be held close x to the top wall contiguous to the strippingedge 12 while enabling relatively free longitudinal movement of thelabel strip thereunder.

Extending between the side wall extensions at a point near the crotch ofthe concavity formed at the juncture of the rearwardly and forwardlyextending front wall portions 10 and 14 is the bar 18, to be referred toas a strip-reversing bar. This bar, which is similarly connected to theside walls 5-5 by pins 18'-18, cemented or fused into complementary sidewall holes, is positioned an appreciable distance below and rearwardlyof both the stripping edge 12 and the guide bar 16.

Extending between the side wall extensions slightly in front of theupper extremity of the front wall portion 10 is the bar 20, to bereferred to as a separator bar, which is similarly held between the sidewalls by pins 2,0'v-20' cemented or fused into complementary side wallholes.

The top surface of this bar is shown slightly below the stripping edge12, and the inner surface of the bar is spaced from the upper front wallportion 10 at approximately the same distance as the guide bar 16 isspaced from the top wall 7.

The housing 1 has a rear opening extending substantially the entireheight of the housing, the opening being normally closed by a rear wall28 hinged to the rear end of the housing side walls 5-5. The hingecomprises cylindrical extensions 29-29 extending laterally from a.ribbed portion at the bottom of rear wall 28 which extensions fit intocorresponding holes 30-30 formed at the bottom rear corners of thehousing side walls 5-5. The rear wall has a curved upper portion 31 of acorresponding shape to curved rear edges 32-32 of the housing sidewalls. The rear wall is held in a closed position where it is flush withthe rear edges of the side walls by any suitable fastening means,preferably by laterally extending rounded nibs 34-34 located in acentral portion of the rear wall which nibs fit into corre-. spondingrecesses 35-35 formed on the inner surfaces of the housing side walls.The housing side walls are sufliciently flexible that the nibs 34-34 cancam apart the side walls to enable the nibs to snap into the recesses35-35. The resiliency and flexibility of the side walls likewise enablethe spreading thereof to an extent where the bottom rear wall extensions29-29 may slide along the inner surfaces of the side walls where theycan snap into the holes 30-30 therein.

The upper free end of the rear housing wall in its closed position isbacked by short, inwardly extending cylindrical projections 36-36 formedintegrally with the housing side walls. The upper end of the rear wall28 in the closed position thereof is spaced from the rear end of thehousing top wall 7 to provide an opening 38 through which the labelstrip may extend from the roll 2 within the housing.

In loading the dispenser with the label roll 2, the rear housing wall 28is pivoted back out of the way so that the roll may be placed into thehousing interior. The width of the roll is preferably slightly less thanthe spacing between the housing side walls and the shape of the interiorsurfaces of the housing is, such that a full cylindrical roll of labelstrips substantially but not completely fills most of the housinginterior, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2.

To string the label strip through the dispenser, the label strip ispartially unwound from the roll and the unwound portion is extendedthrough the opening 38, over the top wall 7, around the stripping edge12, passing under the guide bar 16 and behind the separator bar 20, andthen behind the strip-reversing bar 18. The portion of the label stripbelow the stripping edge 12 initially may be devoid of labels since thelabels are peeled from the backing strip only at the stripping edge 12.Upon the application of a slight pull on the portion of the backingstn'p projecting below forwardly extending front wall portion 14, thelabel strip is held in a substantially taut condition so that a smalladditional force will unwind the roll and move the label-carryingportion of the backing strip around the stripping edge 12 to separatethe front label from the backing strip by a peeling action, as shownmost clearly in Fig. 2. The separator bar by providing support for thelabel strip immediately in front of the stripping edge inhibits thesagging of the front label and aids in maintaining a stripping orseparating force between the label and backing strip until the label hasbeen completely peeled therefrom. It should be noted that the labelstrip will advance easily no matter what direction the bottom of thebacking strip, is pulled. Thus, the arrangement of the various parts ofthe dispenser is such that the manner in which the backing strip is tobe threaded through the dispenser can be simply explained.

The dispenser may be held in the crotch of one hand While the, otherhand. pp s. a sma lp s force o the end of the backing strip, theconcentric circular ribs 6 on the side walls providing a ready grippingsurface. Alternatively the dispenser housing may be anchored to anysupport surface by means of a screw or other fastening means, not shown,which extends through a hole 40 formed in the bottom wall of thedispenser housing.

As is now apparent, the simplicity of construction of the dispenser ofthe invention is such that it can be fabricated very cheaply, completelyfrom molded plastic parts, while at the same time being rugged and easyto load and operate.

It should be understood that numerous modifications may be made of thepreferred form of the invention above described without deviating fromthe broader aspects of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for dispensing labels from a backing strip upon which thelabels are mounted with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing on thelabels, the labels being adapted to be peeled away from the backingstrip by sharply reversely bending the backing strip, the improvementcomprising: a housing which contains a roll of such a label strip, saidhousing having upstanding side walls, an exposed top wall extendingbetween said side walls, a front wall portion extending downwardly andrearwardly from the front end of said top wall and forming therewith ahorizontally disposed, forwardly directed stripping edge, said housingside walls having upper extensions above said top wall adjacent to thestripping edge, a horizontal guide bar supported between said upper sidewall extensions slightly above the top wall at or slightly behind saidstripping edge for guiding the label strip close to the top wall at thestripping edge, and a horizontal strip-reversing bar supported betweensaid side walls substantially below and behind the stripping edge, saidlabel strip extending over said topwall with the labels being arrangedat the top of the label strip, the backing strip thereof extendingbeneath said guide bar around the stripping edge and around the back ofsaid strip-reversing bar.

2. A device for dispensing labels from a backing strip upon which thelabels are mounted with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing on thelabels, the labels being adapted to be peeled away from the backingstrip by sharply reversely bending the backing strip, the improvementcomprising: a housing which contains a roll of such a label strip, saidhousing having upstanding externally ribbed side walls relativelyclosely spaced so as to support a narrow label strip roll and to fitcomfortably in the crotch of the users hand, an exposed top wallextending between said side walls, a front wall portion extendingdownwardly and rearwardly from the front end of said top wall andforming therewith a horizontally disposed, forwardly directed strippingedge, said housing side walls having upper extensions above said topwall adjacent to the stripping edge, a horizontal guide bar supportedbetween said upper side wall extensions slightly behind said strippingedge for guiding the label strip close to the top wall at the strippingedge, and a horizontal'stripreversing bar supported between said sidewalls substantially below and behind the stripping edge, said labelstrip extending over said top wall with the labels being arranged at thetop of the label strip, the backing strip thereof extending beneath saidguide bar around the stripping edge and around the back of saidstrip-reversing bar.

'3. A device for dispensing labels from a backing strip upon which thelabels are mounted with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing on thelabels, the labels being adapted to be peeled away from the backingstrip by sharply reversely bending the backing strip, the improvementcomprising: a housing which contains a roll of such a label strip, saidhousing having upstanding side walls, an exposed top wall extendingbetween said side walls, a front wall portion extending downwardly andrearwardly from the front end of said top wall and fOl'lIlfi ingtherewith a horizontally disposed, forwardly directed stripping edge,said housing side walls having upper extensions above said top walladjacent to the stripping edge, a horizontal guide bar supported betweensaid upper side wall extensions slightly above the top wall at orslightly behind said stripping edge for guiding the label strip close tothe top wall at the stripping edge, and a horizontal strip-reversing barextending between said side wall substantially below and behind thestripping edge, said side walls having front extensions in front of saidrearwardly extending front wall portion in the vicinity of saidstripping edge, a horizontal separator bar supported between said frontside wall extensions slightly in front of said stripping edge, saidlabel strip extending over said top wall with the labels being arrangedat the top of thelabel strip, the backing strip thereof extendingbeneath said guide bar, behind said separator bar to follow generallythe contour of the stripping edge, and around the back of saidstrip-reversing bar.

4. A device for dispensing labels from a backing strip upon which thelabels are mounted with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing on thelabels, the labels being adapted to be peeled away from the backingstrip by sharply reversely bending the backing strip, the improvementcomprising: a housing which contains a roll of such a label strip, saidhousing having upstandin side walls, an exposed top wall extendingbetween said side walls, said top wall merging with an upper front wallportion extending downwardly and sharply rearwardly from the front endof said top wall and forming therewith a horizontally disposed,forwardly directed stripping edge, a forwardly extending front wallportion merging with said upper, rearwardly extending front wall portionat a point spaced appreciably below and rearwardly of the stripping edgeto provide a concavity in the front wall of the housing, said housingside walls having upper extensions above said top wall adjacent to thestripping edge, a horizontal guide bar supported between said upper sidewall extensions slightly above the top wall at or slightly behind saidstripping edge for guiding the label strip close to the top wall at thestripping edge, said side walls having front extensions in front of saidrearwardly and forwardly extending front wall portions, a horizontalstrip-reversing bar supported between said front side wall extensions ata point spaced slightly forwardly of the crotch of said front wallconcavity, and a horizontal separator bar supported between said ,frontside wall extensions slightly in front of said stripping edge, saidlabel strip extending over said top wall with the labels being arrangedat the top of the label strip, the backing strip thereof extendingbeneath said guide bar, behind said separator bar to follow generallythe contour of the strippin edge, and around the back of saidstrip-reversing bar.

5. A device for dispensing labels from a backing strip upon which thelabelsare mounted with a pressure-adhesive backing on the labels, thelabels being adapted to be peeled away from the backing strip by sharplyreversely bending the backing strip, the improvement comprising: ahousin which contains a roll of such a label strip, said housing havingupstanding side walls, an exposed top wall extendin between said sidewalls, said top wall extending for a major part of the length of thehousing, an upper front wall portion extending downwardly and sharplyrearwardly from the front end of said top wall and forming therewith ahorizontally disposed, forwardly directed stripping edge, a forwardlyextending front wall portion merging with said upper rearwardlyextending front wall portion at a point spaced appreciably below andrearwardly of the stripping edge to provide a concavity in the frontwall of the housing, and a pivotally mounted rear wall whose upper endis spaced from the rear of said top wall to define an opening, means forlocking said rear wall in its closed position, the rear wall in its openposition uncovering an opening into the dis- 7v penser housing throughwhich the label strip roll may be inserted into the housing, saidhousing side walls having upper extensions above said top wall adjacentto the stripping edge, a horizontal guide bar supported between saidupper side wall extensions slightly above the top wall at or slightlybehind said stripping edge for guiding the label strip close to thetopwall at the stripping edge, said side walls having front extensionsin front of said rearwardly and forwardly extending front wall portions,a horizontal strip-reversing bar supported between said front side wallextensions at a point spaced slightly forwardly of the crotch of saidfront wall concavity, a horizontal separator bar supported between saidfront side wall extensions slightly in front of said stripping edge, andsaid label strip extending through said opening at the rear of said topwall and over said top wall with the labels being arranged at the top ofthe label strip, the backing strip thereof extending beneath said guidebar, behind said separator bar to follow generally the contour of thestripping edge and around the rear of said label-reversing bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,276,296 Flood Mar. 17, 1942 2,754,994 Cole July 17, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 84,765 Sweden Oct. 29, 1935 459,522 France Sept. 8, 1913 842,909France Mar. 13, 1939

